Adrian's
WallIn
the Fleetway comics, kids were always befriending strange
or supernatural pals. Nobby had Odd
Ball, Daisy had her Genie, etc. But
poor old Adrian must have drawn the
shortest straw because all he had was a ghostly wall
for company. That's right, an honest-to-goodness bricks
and mortar wall with legs!

Of course, it wasn't just a wall, for in its squareness
was housed the spirit of a Cavalier bricked up inside,
centuries ago:

Adrian met his Wall whilst touring a stately home
with
his parents and a droning Guide. A couple of playful
knock-knocks from Adrian and suddenly - Zounds!
-
Mr Wall sprung into life. Wall took on the "Roundhead"
Guide by dropping on the chap's toes. He then followed
Adrian out to his parents' car and hitched a ride home
with them all on the back bumper of the vehicle.
Incredibly, although Adrian was aware of the Wall
behind them his parents remained oblivious!

Our Mr Wall was forever spouting Olde English, in true
Cavalier fashion. Ne'er a panel went by without
a "Zounds!"
or "Gadzooks!". What we weren't told,
however, was what
this Cavalier's real name had been (and no, it
certainly
wasn't "Max"...). Given the Roman connection,
spoofing
the name of Hadrian's Wall, it's a surprise the
originators
didn't opt for a ghostly Legionnaire within the brickwork.
But if they'd gone down that avenue you'd have
missed
the clever in-joke.

If you've read the Shiver
& Shake index page you'll
recall that Shiver the Ghost and Shake the Elephant
originally appeared in a wholly different guise
in the
pages of Cor!! comic...

...In their Cor!! appearances Shake was a spook,
whilst
Shiver was actually a gloomy Cavalier ghost who'd
been
run-through with a cutlass. So when Shiver & Shake
comic
launched the original Shiver returns bricked-up in
a
ghostly wall - smart, eh?

Well, maybe not too smart. There were only so
many things
you could do with a brick wall, ghostly or not.
Mr Wall
dropped himself on several pairs of toes, Uncle
Cyril, and
others for just a few short weeks before the strip
disappeared
early in the comic's run. But our Mr Wall, or
Original Shiver,
returned for the 1974 Annual before finally breaking
out of his
mortar prison altogether and returning to the
pages of
Shiver & Shake yet again. This time, as the phantom
Cavalier
in The
Ghost's Revenge...